peekfreak is a collaborative project between industrial designer Wai Lam and experimental photographer Yann Huey in which they explore the possibility of making cameras using everyday objects. The cameras they’ve made so far use things such as discarded bike parts, plastic containers, and 3.5” floppy disks.

The cameras are extremely minimalistic, and the sliding metal cover of the floppy disk is used as a simple shutter mechanism to expose the film. Check out the innards:

Since the cameras are so randomly put together, the resulting photographs have their unique looks depending on construction:

If getting weird looks while doing photography is your thing, then these cameras are for you! They aren’t for sale and there isn’t any tutorial on how to make these, but the cameras are simple enough that you should be able to figure it out from the photographs.

peekfreak (via Gizmodo)

Image credits: Photographs by peekfreak

Steven Monteau is a French photographer who creates wild do-it-yourself cameras, including “the Jaw” and “the Guillotine“. His latest creation, the Battlefield pinhole camera, uses 3 rolls of 35mm film and exposes them simultaneously to capture unique looking images.

Here’s an example of what the Battlefield camera can do. It’s a photograph taken by Monteau titled “Meriadeck under attack !!!”:

The best part is, you can make one of these things yourself! The complete do-it-yourself tutorial for this extensive project is posted over at DIYPhotography.net, but be warned: the project likely requires countless hours, loads of patience, and existing skill with your hands.

If you do end up making one of these bad boys, don’t forget to leave a comment sharing your resulting photographs!

Image credits: Photographs by Steven Monteau

This amazing pinhole camera is so small that it’s amazing it actually works. It was created by Francesco Capponi (Dippold on Flickr), the same guy who created the nifty printable 35mm cardboard pinhole camera we featured a while back.

Here are a couple more views of this extraordinary camera to give you a better idea of how it works:

To prove the camera is fully-functional, Capponi took the following photograph with it, titled “my little eye“:

The film used to capture this image was simple black and white photo paper.

Sadly, Capponi doesn’t have a tutorial out for making one of these amazing cameras (they would make fun conversation pieces), but hopefully he’ll post some explanation and/or instructions soon!

(via Gizmodo)

You might have seen the coffee mug that looks like a Canon L Lens, but have you seen this camera lens that looks like a coffee mug?

This strange 150mm coffee cup pinhole lens was created by paradefotos, and actually works (though the photos are pretty blurry).

Unlike the L lens coffee mug, this coffee mug lens isn’t nearly as desirable, and probably won’t become the next “must have” camera item. Funny idea though.

Image credit: Coffee cup pinhole lens by paradefotos and used with permission

Francesco Capponi (Dippold on Flickr) has a fun printable template for creating your own nifty-looking 35mm pinhole camera.

All you need to do is print out the template on adhesive paper (size A4) and stick it onto some cardboard. Once you’ve cut out all the required pieces, follow the visual instructions provided to put it together:

Unlike many other paper pinhole camera projects we’ve seen, the final result for this one actually looks pretty nice, and will definitely make a conversation piece. If you do take the time to make this thing, be sure to report back to us with the resulting photographs!

(via Make)

Image credits: Photographs by Francesco Capponi and used with permission.

Solargraphy is a technique in which a fixed pinhole camera is used to expose photographic paper for an absurdly long amount of time (sometimes half a year). Practitioner Ollipekka Kangas says,

Basically solarigraphic camera is a pinhole camera, very slow one. These pinhole photographs taken with a lensless pinhole camera with a extra long exposure. I use black&white paper which is 5-10 ASA. Exposure time can be very long, in some photos up to six months. Usually average camera is hidden in city for one to two months. The picture will appear without developing photographic paper with any kind of chemicals. Exposured paper is scanned in darkness and developed in Photoshop. All the cameras are very low tech, cheap boxes, canisters or film cans. This method in is antidope for digital photographic madness. I can take only like 5 pictures in month.

Sun draws many interesting traces in photos, you can really see the time passing by. Some times camera is tilted by passerby or tape just goes loose. Double exposures or traces of humidity can be seen in photos.

Here are the basic steps for doing this yourself:

1. Make a simple pinhole camera. (a lightproof container with a small hole in one side)
2. Put in some photo paper (the kind you make prints with using an enlarger)
3. Secure the pinhole camera to some fixed location
4. Retrieve it after a few months and scan the resulting image

Be sure to secure your pinhole camera firmly to something that doesn’t move:

What’s cool is that, with a long enough exposure, you can see the different paths the sun takes across the sky as months pass by. Here’s a solargraph that was exposed for more than five months from July 15, 2009 to December 21, 2009:

If you have some photo paper lying around, why not give solargraphy a shot? Just be sure to come back half a year later and link us to your results!

(via Lifehacker)

Image credits: programmazione by …cave, CIMG6776 by gumpz, and [Untitled] by …cave